Germany’s Federal Budget in 2026: Latest Data and Key Figures
Latest data for the 2026 budget: total spending and income, deficit size, national debt level, sources of funding, and changes over the last 10 years.
Main budget figures for 2026
Germany’s federal budget for 2026 is 525 billion euros.
The federal budget for 2026 shows the current financial situation in Germany and the government’s priorities. You can read more about what the federal budget is, its structure, and how the budget is made and approved in Germany, as well as the main principles behind it and why it matters for people living in Germany, on separate pages of our website. Below you will find the main numbers to help you quickly understand the scale and state of the budget.
Key figures for Germany’s federal budget 2026 1
- Total spending:
- 524.5 billion euros.
- Total income (excluding new borrowing):
- 425.2 billion euros.
- Budget balance:
- Deficit – spending is higher than income.
- Planned borrowing:
- about 99.4 billion euros.
- Change compared to 2025:
- spending increased by 4.19 percent.
A budget deficit means that current income does not fully cover all planned spending. The gap is covered by taking out new loans. This is called a deficit budget. It is used when the government needs to support the economy, social programmes, or large investment projects.
Germany’s national debt in recent years has stayed at a high level and is over 2.7 trillion euros 2.
How the federal budget has changed in recent years
The table below shows Germany’s federal budget spending over the past ten years. This data helps you see overall trends and understand how budget policy is changing.
Table 1. Changes in Germany’s federal budget 3
over the last 10 years from 2017 to 2026
| Year | Amount billion euros | Compared to previous year billion euros and % | Compared to 2017, % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 329.1 | - | - | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 343.6 | 14.5 | 4.41% | 4.41% |
| 2019 | 356.4 | 12.8 | 3.73% | 8.30% |
| 2020 | 508.5 | 152.1 | 42.69% | 54.52% |
| 2021 | 572.7 | 64.2 | 12.62% | 74.03% |
| 2022 | 495.8 | -76.9 | -13.43% | 50.65% |
| 2023 | 461.2 | -34.6 | -6.97% | 40.14% |
| 2024 | 476.8 | 15.6 | 3.38% | 44.88% |
| 2025 | 502.5 | 25.7 | 5.40% | 52.70% |
| 2026 | 524.5 | 22.0 | 4.38% | 59.39% |
Chart 1. How Germany’s budget has changed over the years
In recent years, the size of the budget has grown noticeably. There was a big increase during the pandemic, when extra money was needed to support the economy, healthcare, and social payments. In the following years, spending stayed higher than before the crisis because there were more social commitments, more funding for defence, and more investment in infrastructure and energy.
Looking at how things have changed year by year helps you see if these changes are only temporary or if they show a long-term trend. If spending stays high for several years in a row, it means there are lasting changes in budget policy, not just one-off measures to deal with a crisis.
Income and spending in the federal budget
The federal budget has two main parts – income and spending. Income shows how much money the government receives during the year. Spending shows what this money is used for.
In the official budget, income and spending are divided between different ministries and departments. Each ministry is responsible for its own area of policy and gets a certain amount of funding. The more money a ministry receives, the more important that area is in current government policy.
Table 2. Germany’s federal budget for 2026
broken down by ministries and departments (Einzelpläne)
| Ministry | Income million euros | Spending million euros and % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal President and the Office of the Federal President Bundespräsident und Bundespräsidialamt | 0.1 | 67.4 | 0.01% |
| Bundestag, the German Federal Parliament Deutscher Bundestag | 2.3 | 1,276.0 | 0.24% |
| Bundesrat , the Federal Council of Germany Bundesrat | 0.1 | 41.0 | 0.01% |
| Federal Government and the Chancellor of Germany Bundeskanzler und Bundeskanzleramt | 2.4 | 4,998.3 | 0.95% |
| Foreign Office Auswärtiges Amt | 192.8 | 6,025.3 | 1.15% |
| Ministry of the Interior Bundesministerium des Innern | 590.7 | 15,761.6 | 3.00% |
| Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz | 749.8 | 1,213.3 | 0.23% |
| Ministry of Finance Bundesministerium der Finanzen | 256.3 | 10,823.1 | 2.06% |
| Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie | 710.0 | 5,903.3 | 1.13% |
| Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity Bundesministerium für Landwirtschaft, Ernährung und Heimat | 110.9 | 6,993.1 | 1.33% |
| Ministry for Employment and Social Affairs Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales | 1,491.7 | 197,341.0 | 37.62% |
| Ministry for Transport Bundesministerium für Verkehr | 14,668.7 | 27,901.4 | 5.32% |
| Ministry of Defense Bundesministerium der Verteidigung | 800.0 | 82,687.3 | 15.76% |
| Ministry for Health Bundesministerium für Gesundheit | 106.2 | 21,773.9 | 4.15% |
| Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Klimaschutz, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit | 1,259.6 | 2,772.1 | 0.53% |
| Ministry of Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend | 279.7 | 16,664.0 | 3.18% |
| Constitutional Court of Germany Bundesverfassungsgericht | 0.0 | 46.4 | 0.01% |
| Federal Court of Auditors, aka the Federal Audit Office Bundesrechnungshof | 0.4 | 202.2 | 0.04% |
| Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Der Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit | 0.1 | 52.2 | 0.01% |
| Independent Control Council Unabhängiger Kontrollrat | 0.0 | 14.6 | 0.00% |
| Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung | 679.0 | 10,055.7 | 1.92% |
| Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation Bundesministerium für Digitales und Staatsmodernisierung | 0.0 | 1,359.6 | 0.26% |
| Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Stadtentwicklung und Bauwesen | 183.2 | 7,745.7 | 1.48% |
| Ministry for Research, Technology and Space Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt | 51.3 | 21,818.3 | 4.16% |
| State debt Bundesschuld | 99,357.5 | 33,649.4 | 6.42% |
| General Financial Administration Allgemeine Finanzverwaltung | 403,047.5 | 47,354.0 | 9.03% |
| TOTAL: | 524,540.1 | 524,540.1 | 100.00% |
The next chart (Chart 2) shows how Germany’s federal budget spending is divided between ministries and departments, using data from Table 2 above on this page.
Chart 2. How Germany’s budget spending is divided between ministries in 2026
You can find a detailed breakdown of income and a full list of spending items on separate pages, where you can see exact figures and trends for each year.
About the data
- Main figures for 2026: taken from the official publication of the federal budget law in Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Law Gazette), Teil I, 2025, No. 343, published in Bonn on 22 December 2025 — Gesetz über die Feststellung des Bundeshaushaltsplans für das Haushaltsjahr 2026 (Haushaltsgesetz 2026 – HG 2026). This document is the official law that approves Germany’s federal budget for 2026.
- National debt figure: according to Deutsche Bundesbank, Pressenotiz 31.03.2025, Deutsche Staatsschulden
- About Table 1: The figures shown are SOLL-Werte – planned spending amounts approved by law for each year. They show officially planned sums, not final actual spending. If changes are needed during the year, a Nachtragshaushalt – an extra (amending) budget – is passed. This adjusts spending, income, and borrowing to fit new economic conditions. Such changes are already included in this table if they were made. Since the budget is officially adjusted during the year if needed, final actual spending usually does not differ much from these updated planned figures. This means SOLL values are a good guide for analysing trends in the budget.
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